Leaders from South Korea, China and Japan yesterday reaffirmed their goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, during a rare summit at which they also agreed to deepen trade ties.
The summit brought together South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul for the countries’ first trilateral talks in nearly five years, partly due to the COVID-19, pandemic but also to once-sour ties.
While North Korea was not officially on the agenda, hours before the leaders met Pyongyang announced that it would soon put another spy satellite into orbit — a move that contravenes rafts of UN sanctions barring it from tests using ballistic technology.
Photo: EPA-EFE
At a joint press conference, Yoon and Kishida urged North Korea to call off the launch, with the South Korean leader saying it would “undermine regional and global peace and stability.”
Yoon also called for a “decisive” international response if Kim went ahead with his fourth such launch — aided by what Seoul claims is Russian technical assistance in exchange for Kim sending Moscow arms for use in Ukraine.
However, China, North Korea’s most important ally and economic benefactor, remained notably silent on the issue, with Li not mentioning it during the briefing.
In a joint statement issued after the talks, the countries reaffirmed their commitment to the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” adding that peace “serves our common interest and is our common responsibility.”
Pyongyang hit back immediately, saying in a statement by a North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson that “to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula today constitutes a grave political provocation.”
The three countries yesterday also announced that they would arrange “discussions for speeding up negotiations for a Trilateral FTA [free-trade agreement],” and boost three-way cooperation, including holding summits on a regular basis.
Li also said they had agreed on not turning “economic and trade issues into political games or security matters, and rejecting protectionism as well as decoupling or the severing of supply chains,” Xinhua news agency reported.
After their talks, Yoon, Li and Kishida joined a business summit aimed at boosting trade between the countries, which was also attended by top industry leaders.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
RSS